Old factory converted from hearth to home

December 01, 2009 |

A former briquette factory in Cologne-Frechen, Germany, was converted into a mixed-use building by Astoc Architects & Planners, Cologne, in association with Rheinischen Amt für Denkmalpflege—the Rhenish agency for historic preservation. The roughly 172,200-sf building includes a mix of residential condominiums, lofts, and leased commercial space. The architects retained the building's original roofline while adding maisonette apartments with roof terraces; all other units have large balconies. The factory's old boiler plant is being converted into eight townhouses.

The San Bernardino (Calif.) Valley Community College Kinesiology and Athletics Center, designed by HMC Architects. The three-story, 108,509-sf, $69 million facility has two NCAA competition gymasiums. Photo: David Fennema, HMC Architects.